Chipped Black Paint
by Megii of Mysteri OusStranger
Summary: He'd long since lost track of how long he'd been imprisoned in that bleak, dark room, but he could endure it.... as long as he had them. KyoxTohruxYuki


**Chipped Black Paint**

_He'd long since lost track of how long he'd been imprisoned in that bleak, dark room, but he could endure it… as long as he had them. KyoxTohruxYuki_

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Kyonkichi had long since become bluntly honest with himself. He admitted that he had long since forgotten the pure, infinite blue of the sky, the fiery orange of his hair, the prickly, but enjoyable feel of pert grass on his bare skin, and even how to read. The days, weeks, and years were blurred. He slept when he was tired, ate when meals were brought, and had somehow managed to figure out the patterns Akito would fall into whenever the Head came to see him. Patterns that once seemed sporadic and completely unpredictable.

Kyou could tell when Akito was feeling particularly violent or gentle by the number of "sleeps" between her visits and the way her footsteps sounded on the hard, wooden floor. Last time Akito had visited, she'd revealed to him that he'd passed his twenty-seventh birthday. Her gift to him was a deep slash on his right cheek for his lack of response.

There was a soft knock on the door to the room that had become his prison and the corners of his thin lips curled upward hopefully. The sliding door opened and the figure of what could only be called an angel appeared before him.

"Tohru…" he whispered, his voice soft and dusty from lack of use. The silken haired brunette swooped down to him, her gentle, pink lips meeting his softly and her hands caressing his bony shoulders with the touch of a lover.

Behind her, several more figures appeared. The silhouette of her husband and their children; the result of the life she'd come to create for herself since his imprisonment.

Silver hair glinted in the light, and Yuki smiled softly as he witnessed his wife kissing another man. It was a true shame, and he meant that in the most sincere way. He and Kyou had managed to sort out their differences and come to peace with one another, only for it to be too late to change anything. However, despute that, Kyou was the only other person he'd trust with Tohru. The only other person he'd allow to touch his wife like that, and he knew that the Cat loved the chocolate haired woman as he, the Rat, did, if not more so.

"Long time no see, Kyou-kun." The silver haired man greeted, his voice gentle.

Tohru and Kyou pulled apart, resting their foreheads together. The now paprika-and-pepper haired Cat only grunted in response, holding onto Tohru like a man starved. The three children by Yuki's side walked into the room, smiling happily.

"Hello, Uncle Kyou."

"Hi hi, Kyon-kyon."

"Father…"

Kyou and Thoru separated, though she kept her hand on his shoulder, and he greeted each of the children with a smile.

The oldest child was a chocolate haired little boy with large, coffee colored eyes flecked with orange, the spitting image of Tohru. The eight year-old embraced the Cat tightly, climbing onto the man's lap to press his small face into the man's chest.

Kyonkichi held his only offspring as tightly as his frail arms would allow. It was a child Akito was ignorant of. As far as the God of the Zodiac knew, Tohru Sohma's eldest was Yuki's child. The boy was his most treasured luxury. The younger children looked on with warm smiles, completely understanding and accepting, even in their young age.

At long last, Kyou looked up, giving a weak, thin smile to Tohru's other children. "Hello… Kanna…. Jiroma. Would either of you like some candy?"

Kanna eagerly accepted while Jiroma declined, pointing out his soon-to-be-fixed cavities. How the boy managed to do that with Tohru as his mother escaped Kyou, but he didn't ask, turning to the child in his lap.

He stroked the small boy's silken lock affectionately. "How is school, Kouta? Are you doing well?"

His son responded with grave joy, Tohru settling beside the two as the child spoke. Yuki, with one last glance at his wife and best friend, ushered his children out of the room, himself following soon after.

Kyonkichi knew, more than anything, that it was his few rare moments and Tohru and Kouta that kept him somewhat sane through the endless, lonely days in his prison. His only regret was getting to spend so little time with his only son. But they could not let Akito know the truth about the boy's heritage. It would only result in the boy's banishment and possible death.

His time with Tohru was restricted as well, though not as much as Kouta's. Sometimes he would get to see her once a year, twice if he was lucky, and they'd spend hours together during those meetings. Hours spent exchanging soft, loving words, fleeting kisses that burned even as they sewed together the shredded remains of his soul, touching one another, caressing, making love…. It was never quite enough, but it kept him from falling over into the deep pit on insanity, on the edge of it as he was. It was not an uncommon occurrence for him to talk to himself.

But, he thought as her bare body squirmed beneath his, invisible in the dark and slick with warm sweat, it was reason enough for his existence to continue. The thought of Tohru and Kouta alone were enough to drive him to get out of bed each day, hoping, praying, needing them to come and see him and prevent him from just giving up on everything. The sound of their voices was enough to keep him living. Even Yuki was an important person now, and he loved the Rat's children as if they were his won, no matter how seldom he saw any of them. It was for them that he lived and he had long since promised himself that, for them… he'd endure it all.

**End**


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